Cleveland Museum of Art Returns Hindu Monkey God Sculpture to Cambodia

THE PLAIN DEALER

By Steven Litt

OHIO---The Cleveland Museum of Art announced early Monday that it voluntarily returned to Cambodia a much-beloved 10th century statue of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, after uncovering evidence that it was probably looted during the country's bloody civil war. Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, reported that Cambodian officials held a Buddhist ceremony at the airport to welcome the arrival of the 800-lb sandstone sculpture, which stands roughly 3.5 feet high and depicts a kneeling human figure with the head of a monkey. [link]

The Hanuman statue returned by the Cleveland Museum of Art to Cambodia had been a highlight in the museum's recently completed West Wing Asian galleries.